


Every Brilliant Woman

by EstellaB



Category: Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Genre: F/M, Gen, History of STEM, women in STEM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:02:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25385734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstellaB/pseuds/EstellaB
Summary: Dick is invited to give a talk at a memorial event for his friend and former colleague.
Relationships: Dick Callum & Rosalind Franklin & Titty Walker friendship, Dick Callum/Titty Walker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Every Brilliant Woman

“One final thing, before we move on to another speaker.” Professor Richard Callum cleared his throat, uncomfortably, and looked out at the lecture theatre. His audience was growing restless, but they quietened down as he paused. Titty caught his eye and beamed at him—reflexively, he smiled back, and felt a little braver. “I have been speaking predominantly about my late colleague, for whom I have the greatest respect. Dr Franklin, as I think we have all realised, was never given the recognition that she deserved. She was by far the finest scientist with whom I ever worked, and I was lucky to call her my friend as well as my colleague.

“But Dr Franklin is not the only person on whom we have relied for years without truly crediting her. And if I may directly address my male colleagues here.” He switched to the next slide, and, in the audience, Titty started to see an old photo appear on the screen—of herself, surrounded by paper and half-empty mugs, frowning in concentration. “This is a photograph of my wife, editing my first book. How many of us have excellent wives, gentlemen? How many of us rely on them?” He glanced down at his notes. “The dedication for my book reads— _For my wife, whom I love_. It had better have read, _For Letitia Callum, whom I should have credited as my co-author_. Though both were, and remain, equally true.”

Another slide. It was the first page of a paper Dick had written in 1947. “This is the first paper on which I was ever listed as sole author.” One more slide, and it was the same paper, but with entire paragraphs crossed out or underlined. “My wife rewrote much of this. I found an early draft of the abstract,” and he dug a piece of paper out from his notes. Clearing his throat again, he began “Coal is important. Herein lies a description of an experiment about porosity, and some findings.”

He paused, and there was a ripple of laughter. “I have never been a capable writer. Letitia is an exceptional journalist who has worked throughout our marriage, and on top of her own work, she has often been reading, commenting on, and adding to mine. Without her, I doubt these papers would even have made it through the first review. I have been woefully failing to credit her in my work for twenty years. I did not even realise, until I was reviewing my notes for this talk on Dr Franklin’s early work, that I had been making the same mistake so many of her colleagues have made–the same mistake that used to infuriate me. Without noticing, I had been minimising the amount of input my wife has into my work—our work.

“I know many of you rely on your wives professionally, as well as personally. I know, because I’ve heard you say it. You joke about your wives being excellent value as secretaries—typing the whole manuscript, deciphering your handwriting, making quiet little editorial tweaks; you are grateful that they continue to do all the work of the household, so that you can disappear off into your work. Perhaps, if you remember, you might mention them in the acknowledgements at the end of a particularly difficult book.”

A final click, and his last slide appeared on the screen. It was the title page of a new paper, reading quite simply, _A qualitative comparison of the matrices in arenite and wacke (in press). Callum, L., Callum, R_. “I’m sorry, Titty,” he said, simply, looking up and meeting her eye. She was crying. “From now on, I will value you and your work far better. I would ask my colleagues to do the same—for all the brilliant wives who are never credited; for Dr Franklin, and every other woman scientist who is dismissed and belittled and passed over; for the women who are our new students, who will need mentoring just as much as you and I did when we were postgraduates and postdocs, and who will change the face of academia for good.”

He walked off the stage, and took his seat next to his wife. “Rosalind would have loved that,” she whispered to him, slipping her hand into his and wiping her eyes. “And so did I.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel really weird writing real people into my fic, and I'm aware that there's been a lot of back-and-forth over the years about whether Rosalind Franklin would have welcomed being taken up as a feminist cause. However, ever since I found out that Franklin liked hiking and worked out that she and Dick were probably around the same age, I've had a very deeply ingrained headcanon that she worked with him during WWII - and occasionally went hiking with him, and with Titty once she was on the scene. I also think that, as a result of the way Franklin was treated by the scientific establishment, he would have ended up becoming a true champion for women in STEM - because unfairness and unkindness are such anathema to Dick and I think it would have ended up being a bit of a life's work for him.


End file.
